Air quality alert remains through at least 6 p.m. Tuesday; shower possible

Cooler and drier air moves in Wednesday and Thursday

A view of the Minneapolis cityscape.
Hazy air settles over Minneapolis on Monday. Smoke remains present in the skies Tuesday creating air quality concerns.
Kerem Yücel | MPR News

Updated 8:45 a.m.

Smoke remains present in the skies, Tuesday creating air quality concerns. We’ll have more spotty showers and thunder possible Tuesday ahead of cooler, drier air moving in for Wednesday.

Air quality alert continues Tuesday

An air quality alert remains in place through at least 6 p.m. Tuesday. The air remains less than ideal as Canadian wildfire smoke lingers Tuesday.

Air quality alert AM
Air quality alert through at least 6 p.m. Tuesday
National Weather Service

Our surface air and air aloft continues to flow in from the northeast, in the direction of the fires. An upper-level area of high pressure is the culprit. Air flows clockwise around high-pressure regions.

smoke plume high pressure
Smoke and poor air quality is rotating in clockwise around a large area of upper-level high pressure.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Check the latest air quality conditions and forecasts here:

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Here are air quality forecasts for the next couple of days:

More showers possible Tuesday then cooler

Tuesday again brings some spotty showers. We’ll see a few showers in central and eastern Minnesota in the morning hours and then some pop-up thunderstorms will develop in western and southern Minnesota.

There will be some lingering showers north and west possible Wednesday.

precip Tue-Wed 8a
Forecast precipitation 8 a.m. Tuesday through Wednesday
NOAA, via Pivotal Weather

All of this unsettled weather is a result of cooler and drier air moving across the region, but it’s not quite a sharp cold front. High temperatures Tuesday will show a contrast from north to south however.

tue hi 8a
Forecast highs Tuesday
National Weather Service

Dew points will still be muggy in western and southern Minnesota Tuesday.

dews TUE
Forecast dew points midday Tuesday
National Weather Service

Overnight Tuesday night temperatures will cool off for the first time in about 10 days. Lows will be near 60 in the Twin Cities and in the 40s in northeastern Minnesota.

Tue NT
Forecast lows Tuesday night
National Weather Service

Temperatures Wednesday will be pleasant with highs from the 70s to the mid 80s for most.

wed hi 8a
Forecast highs Wednesday
National Weather Service

The big difference will be the drop in humidity. Dew points Wednesday will be in the 40s and 50s, making it much more comfortable than the last week or so.

dews WED
Forecast dew points midday Wednesday
National Weather Service

The next chance of showers and thunder comes in late Friday into Saturday ahead of another cool front that will drop temps Sunday.

fcst
Forecast through Monday
National Weather Service

The models hint at things heating up again though next week, so enjoy the break.